Willa Pearl Curtis Movies

A woman calling herself Vera (Nancy Kelly) displays a great deal of affection toward the baby son of her landlady, Louise Henderson (Gena Rowlands). Curiously, although the infant is named Lonnie, Vera insists upon referring to him as Michael. What seems innocent enough on the surface is quickly revealed to have a sinister subtext when it turns out that both Vera and Louise had delivered babies at the same time in the same maternity hospital -- but only one of the babies survived. This is one of the few anthology-series episodes of the 1960s to boast an all-female cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of top 20th Century Fox contractees were loaned to Paramount as stars of The Mating Season. Gene Tierney plays globe-trotting socialite Maggie Carleton, while Thelma Ritter is cast as Ellen McNulty, the hash-slinging mother of Maggie's husband, Val (John Lund). Perceiving that her son is embarrassed by his lower-class origins, Ellen poses as a maid when she attends Maggie and Val's wedding reception. Even after Val expresses displeasure at this deception, Ellen refuses to reveal her true identity, leading to a series of funny and poignant consequences. Miriam Hopkins co-stars as Ellen's blue-blooded mother, whose third-act arrival heralds the film's inevitable "moment of truth." Rest assured, The Mating Season is never dull. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

African-American playwright Richard Wright's 1940 novel Native Son was too explosive for any Hollywood studio in 1951. However, an enterprising Argentine filmmaking firm was able to attain American backing (and a few location shots filmed in Chicago) for a cheap but satisfying cinemazation of the novel. Author Wright himself is cast as Bigger Thomas, a young Chicago black man who chafes at the thought of never being considered an equal in a white-dominated society. Bigger gets a job as chauffeur for a wealthy white family, who hope in their own naïve fashion to help Thomas graduate from the ghetto. The family's daughter (Jean Wallace) talks Bigger into driving her to a labor rally so that she can rendezvous with her "radical" boy friend (in the novel, the boy was an avowed Marxist, but this aspect was toned down for the politically volatile early 1950s). On the way home, Bigger misinterprets the girl's kindnesses towards him as being sexually motivated. Later on, Bigger drives the girl home after she's been on a drunken binge. She awakens and screams at him; the confused Bigger, certain that he'll be accused of attempted rape, accidentally kills the girl. He hides the body, fearing that discovery of his crime will prompt a lynching. The girl's boyfriend is accused of kidnapping her, a suspicion that Bigger has a hand in fomenting. Once he is found out, Bigger takes it on the lam with his ghetto girlfriend (Gloria Madison). Partly out of rage over his station in life, and partly out of confusion over the series of events that have led to his current plight, Bigger kills again just before the cops close in. Richard Wright's thesis was that, while Bigger Thomas was certainly responsible for his crimes, his mixed-up behavior was a by-product of white society's ongoing suppression of blacks. This isn't quite as clear-cut in the film version of Native Son as it was in the novel (or the stage play, which was presented by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in 1941). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This story of two young hopefuls who come to Hollywood is merely a thin device to feature almost every star working for Paramount Studios in 1947. Mary Hatcher plays Catherine Brown, a woman of humble origins who arrives in Hollywood, where she meets another wanna-be movie star, Amber La Vonne (Olga San Juan). They work their way through the Paramount studios, trying to impress every important person. Mostly, the film is a cavalcade of songs by various stars that take place at several studio and Hollywood locations, including the famous Brown Derby restaurant. Many of the film's songs were written by Frank Loesser. Dorothy Lamour and Alan Ladd sing "Tallahassee"; Bing Crosby and Bob Hope play golf and sing a duet, "Harmony"; the Original Dixieland Jazz Band plays "Tiger Rag"; and a host of other top performers of the era appear in brief cameos. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

MGM's Our Gang series had fallen into such disrepute by 1944 that the studio released the series' valedictory offering, Tale of a Dog, as an "MGM Miniature." This one begins as black youngsters Buckwheat (Billie Thomas) and Big Shot (Cordell Hickman) decide to give their dog Smallpox to the Our Gang kids as a present. Overhearing this, the gang misunderstands, thinking that "smallpox" is the dreaded contagious disease rather than a pooch. Within minutes, the kids manage to spread rumors about an impending smallpox epidemic, and before long the entire city -- and the Board of Health -- is in a state of panic. It is hard to determine which scene in this film is worse: the "Loose Lips Sink Ships" curtain speech delivered by the mayor or the appalling racial humor when Buckwheat's mom (Willa Pearl Curtis) misinterprets the doctor's instructions to "isolate" her son. Then there's the closing gag, in which Smallpox the dog speaks in an exaggerated Negro dialect. First shown on April 15, 1944, Tale of a Dog was the final Our Gang one-reeler to be filmed, but not the last to be released; that dubious honor went to the equally unfunny Dancing Romeo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though not the best of the Fred Astaire musicals, Second Chorus is the most easily accessible thanks to its current public-domain status. Astaire and Burgess Meredith play Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor, friendly-enemy musicians who after spending seven years in a college band aspire to join the Artie Shaw Orchestra. Danny and Hank also spend a lot of time vying over the attentions of their pretty manager Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard). While Paulette Goddard later became Mrs. Burgess Meredith in real life, guess who wins her hand in this picture? Charles Butterworth steals the show as Mr. Chisholm, a music-loving eccentric who finances Shaw's "swing concerto" concert at Carnegie Hall. Oh, and Fred Astaire dances, too. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide